Article by
Barbados Today

Published on
December 17, 2016

Police are reporting a significant drop in crime so far this year, although some minor crimes were up.

Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) in charge of Crime Management Lybron Sobers would not provide figures, However, he told Barbados TODAY all major crimes were down substantially.

“I can say that we have done pretty well. If we can look at the stats, you can see that Barbados has done well 2016, especially crimes that are of particular concern to the public . . . the murders and burglaries and so on.

“I don’t want to give you any specific figures, but I know for a fact that right now, we are at 21 murders . . .. At the end of 2015 we had 35 . . . and we at 21 now,” Sobers revealed, adding that police had solved 25 of last year’s murders and 18 of the 21 this year.

Sobers added that other crimes such as burglaries and sexual offences also fell, but there was a rise in assaults and breaches of the peace that fell in the category of harassment.

“When you look at that in total, that is the only area that we are up over last year,” the senior police official noted.

Sobers said while both locals and visitors experienced some form of harassment, there was very little harassment of tourists on the beaches.

He also said the number of drug cases increased by 300 over last year.

Meanwhile, the senior officer is appealing to residents to be cautious as they go about their business during the Christmas season.

“People in Barbados have got to be aware there are other people who are just there waiting for the opportunity just to snatch bags and so. So those people moving around the various shopping areas, they should not walk with too much money,” Sobers advised.

He issued a special appeal to females in particular, to secure their bags tightly under their arms, and cautioned that the bigger the bag, the easier a target it becomes.

He also advised householders to secure their homes before heading out.

Sobers said lawmen were concerned that the crime prevention tips offered by lawmen were being ignored.

Meanwhile, Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations William Yearwood said the annual Christmas anti-crime plan was already in operation.

Yearwood told Barbados TODAY there was increased police presence at all major shopping centres and commercial entities across Barbados, as well as more mobile patrols.